1957 Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project Class.

Here we are!  Again!!

If you have been following our Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project, you know that we have asked the rhetorical question: What if the PFHOF began in January 1946?

After soliciting and obtaining a passionate group of football fans and historians, we sent out a ballot for a Preliminary Vote, in which we asked each voter to give us 25 names as their semi-finalists and 5 in the Senior Pool. Following that, we asked the group to vote for their 15 Finalists in the Modern Era and 3 in the Senior Category. The final stage was to vote for their five Modern Era inductee and one Senior inductee.

This is the result of the twelfth official class;

Below are the final results of this project based on 31 votes,

Remember that the group took a vote, and we have reverted back to the top five candidates entering the Hall.  This will be put to a vote again in “1960”.

This is for the “Modern Era”

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1957:

Player	Year of Eligibility	Vote Total
Steve Van Buren HB	1	28
Al Wistert T	1	22
Beattie Feathers HB-WB	12	14
Kenny Washington B	4	14
Riley Matheson G	4	11
Steve Owen T-G	19	10
Marshall Goldberg FB	4	9
Ken Kavanaugh E	2	8
Whizzer White TB-HB	11	7
Wayne Millner E	7	7
Ace Gutkowski FB-TB	13	3
Bill Osmanski FB	5	3
George Svendsen C	11	2
Buckets Goldenberg	7	2
Woody Strode E	3	2
Ward Cuff WB-QB-HB	5	0

This is for the “Senior Era”, *Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1957:

Swede Youngstrom	5	16
Tony Latone	2	7
Hunk Anderson	7	7
None of the Above	N/A	1

About the 1957 Inductees:

Steve Van Buren HB, PHI 1944-51: Inducted in 1957 on his 1^st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

 

"Supersonic" Steve Van Buren was the first major star player for the Philadelphia Eagles. Prior to his arrival as a first-round pick from LSU, the Eagles had only managed a fourth-place finish. However, Van Buren changed all of that. He played halfback for eight years in the NFL, all with the Eagles. Van Buren was a five-time first-team All-Pro, four-time rushing champion, and two-time leader in yards from scrimmage. He led Philadelphia to its first two NFL titles in 1948 and 1949 and paved the way for future backs.

Al Wistert T-G-DT, PHI 1943-51: Inducted in 1957 on his 1st Ballot. Was never inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The man who opened up the lanes for Van Buren joins him as part of the PFHOF Revisited Project.  “The Big Ox” also played his entire career with the Eagles, where he also served as a captain and was named to four consecutive First Team All-Pros.  If Van Buren was the engine that drove Philadelphia to back-to-back titles, Wistert was the horsepower.

Beattie Feathers HB-WB, CHI 1934-37, BKN 1938-39 & GNB 1940: Inducted in 1957 on his 5h Senior Ballot.  Was never inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Playing his college ball at the University of Tennessee, Beattie Feathers would have an incredible rookie season with the Chicago Bears, where in 1934, he would become the first 1,000 Yard rusher (though there are some football historians who dispute the accuracy), and he would also lead the league in All-Purpose Yards and Yards from Scrimmage and was a First Team All-Pro.  In the six seasons he played after (with Chicago, Brooklyn, and Green Bay), he didn't tally as much as he did as a rookie, but that campaign was the most incredible offensive year the league had ever seen. 

Kenny Washington HB, RAM 1946-48: Inducted in 1957 on his 4th Ballot.  Was never inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A superstar in both football and baseball at USC, Washington was unable to join the National Football League due to its segregationist policies, so he dominated for the Hollywood Bears in the Pacific Coast Professional Football League, where he was their best player.  When the Cleveland Rams relocated to Los Angeles, the time was right for reintegration, and he (along with Woody Strode) was signed by the Rams.  Washington’s knees were already banged up, and his tenure in the NFL was only three years, but his role in football should never be discounted. 

Riley Matheson G, RAM 1939-42 & 1944-47, DET 1943, SFO 1948: Inducted in 1957 on his 4th Ballot.  Was never inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Riley Matheson arrived in Cleveland with little fanfare to join the Rams in 1939 after going undrafted from Texas-El Paso.  Playing as both Offensive Lineman, Matheson broke out in 1942, earning his first First Team All-Pro, while also capturing that honor in 1944 and 1945.  Granted, this happened during World War II, when the league was depleted during World War II, but the NFL Champion in ’45 was out to prove he was there to stay.  The Rams relocated to Los Angeles, but he remained a First Team All-Pro, selected to his fourth and fifth one in 1946 and 1947.  He left the Rams to join the San Francisco 49ers of the then AAFC and finished off his career with two years in the Canadian Football League with the Calgary Stampeders.

Swede Youngstrom G-T-E-C, BUF 1920-24, CAN 1921, CLE 1925, FRN 1926-27: Inducted in 1957 on his 4th Ballot.  Was never inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame.

From the early days of football, Youngstrom was one of the most powerful guards of the 1920s, and he led the Frankford Yellow Jackets to an NFL Championship.  Youngstrom was also a three-time First Team All-Pro.